Visually, the track is impossible to detect from the surrounding undisturbed desert after 20 years. In fact, we could not have found the track without the old photograph and a lot of searching. However, soil measurements indicate that the compaction levels have only reduced by half, and the soil still is highly compacted at depth. At lower-elevation sites with few perennial species, recovery rates can be relatively fast. Remarkably, the stump of the small Atriplex is still present in the foreground, indicating that decomposition rates are extremely slow at this site. (Dominic Oldershaw)